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THE   GOOD   OLD  WAY 


THE  GOOD  OLD  WAY 


BY 
HENRY  VAN    DYKE 


NEW  YORK 

THOMAS  Y.   CROWELL  &  CO. 
PUBLISHERS 


COPTKIGHT,   1908  AND  1907, 

BY  THOMAS  Y.  CEOWELL  &  CO. 


THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY 

Jeremiah  vi.  16:  Stand  ye  in  the  ways  and 
see;  and  ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the 
good  way;  and  walk  therein,  and  ye  shall  find 
rest  for  your  souls. 

THIS  advice  was  given  to  people  who 
were  in  peril  and  perplexity.  The  king- 
dom of  Judah  was  threatened  with  de- 
struction, which  could  be  averted  only 
by  wise  and  prompt  action.  But  the 
trouble  was  to  decide  in  which  direction 
that  action  should  be  taken.  The  nation 
was  divided  into  loud  parties,  and  these 
parties  into  noisy  wings.  Every  man 
had  a  theory  of  his  own,  or  a  variation 
of  some  other  man's  theory. 
5 


O  THE   GOOD    OLD    WAY 

Some  favoured  an  alliance  with  the 
East ;  some  preferred  the  friendship  of 
the  West ;  others,  a  course  of  diplomatic 
dalliance;  a  few  stood  out  for  honest 
independence.  Some  said  that  what  the 
country  needed  was  an  increase  of  wealth ; 
some  held  that  a  splendid  and  luxurious 
court  like  that  of  Pharaoh  or  Nebuchad- 
nezzar would  bring  prosperity;  others 
maintained  that  the  troubles  of  the  land 
could  be  healed  only  by  a  return  to 
"  simpler  manners,  purer  laws."  Among 
the  nobility  and  their  followers  all  kinds 
of  novelties  in  the  worship  of  idols  were 
in  fashion  and  new  gods  were  imported 
every  season.  The  philosophers  culti- 
vated a  discreet  indifference  to  all  reli- 
gious questions.  The  prophets  taught 
that  the  only  salvation  for  the  nation  lay 
in  the  putting  away  of  idolatry  and  the 


THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY  7 

revival  of  faith  in  the  living  and  true 
God. 

Judah  was  like  a  man  standing  at  the 
cross-roads,  on  a  stormy  night,  with  all 
the  guide-posts  blown  down.  Mean- 
time the  Babylonian  foe  was  closing  in 
around  Jerusalem,  and  it  was  necessary 
to  do  something,  or  die. 

The  liberty  of  choice  was  an  embar- 
rassment. The  minds  of  men  alternated 
between  that  rash  haste  which  is  ready 
to  follow  any  leader  who  makes  noise 
enough,  and  that  sceptical  spirit  which 
doubts  whether  any  line  of  action  can  be 
right  because  so  many  lines  are  open. 
Into  this  atmosphere  of  fever  and  fog 
came  the  word  of  the  prophet.  Let  us 
consider  what  it  means. 

Stand  ye  in  the  ways  and  see :  that 
means  deliberation.  When  you  are  at  a 


8  THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY 

junction  it  is  no  time  to  shut  your  eyes 
and  run  at  full  speed.  Where  there  are 
so  many  ways,  some  of  them  are  likely  to 
be  wrong.  A  turning-point  is  the  place 
for  prudence  and  forethought. 

Ask  for  the  old  paths,  what  is  the 
good  way:  that  means  guidance.  No 
man  is  forced  to  face  the  problems  of 
life  alone.  Other  men  have  tried  the 
different  ways.  Peace,  prosperity,  vic- 
tory have  been  won  by  the  nation  in 
former  times.  Inquire  of  the  past  how 
these  blessings  were  secured.  Look  for 
the  path  which  has  already  led  to  safety 
and  happiness.  Let  history  teach  you 
which  among  all  these  crossing  ways  is 
the  best  to  follow. 

And  walk  therein:  that  means  action. 
When  you  have  deliberated,  when  you 
have  seen  the  guiding  light  upon  the 


THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY  9 

way  of  security  and  peace,  then  go  ahead. 
Prudence  is  worthless  unless  you  put  it 
into  practice.  When  in  doubt  do  noth- 
ing ;  but  as  long  as  you  do  nothing  you 
will  be  in  doubt.  Never  man  or  nation 
was  saved  by  inaction.  The  only  way 
out  of  danger  is  the  way  into  work. 
Gird  up  your  loins,  trembling  Judah,  and 
push  along  your  chosen  path,  steadily, 
bravely,  strenuously,  until  you  come  to 
your  promised  rest. 

Now  I  am  sure  this  was  good  counsel 
that  the  prophet  gave  to  his  people  in 
the  days  of  perplexity.  It  would  have 
been  well  for  them  if  they  had  followed 
it.  I  am  sure  it  is  also  good  counsel  for 
us,  a  word  of  God  to  steady  us  and 
stimulate  us  amid  life's  confusions.  Let 
me  make  it  a  personal  message  to  you. 

Stand  in  the  ways  :  Ask  for  the  good 


IO  THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY 

way  :  Walk  therein  :  —  Deliberation, 
Guidance,  Action,  —  Will  you  take  these 
words  with  you,  and  try  to  make  them 
a  vital  influence  in  your  life  ? 

I.  First,  I  ask  you  to  stand  in  the  ways 
and  see.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that 
you  have  not  already  been  doing  this 
to  a  certain  extent.  The  great  world  is 
crossed  by  human  footsteps  which  make 
paths  leading  in  all  directions.  Men 
travel  through  on  different  ways  ;  and  I 
suppose  some  of  you  have  noticed  the 
fact,  and  thought  a  little  about  it 

There  is  the  way  of  sensuality.  Those 
who  walk  in  it  take  appetite  as  their 
guide.  Their  main  object  in  life  is  to 
gratify  their  physical  desires.  Some  of 
them  are  delicate,  and  some  of  them  are 
coarse.  That  is  a  matter  of  tempera- 
ment. But  all  of  them  are  hungry. 


THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY  II 

That  is  a  matter  of  principle.  Whether 
they  grub  in  the  mire  for  their  food  like 
swine,  or  browse  daintily  upon  the  tree- 
tops  like  the  giraffe,  the  question  of  life 
for  those  who  follow  this  way  is  the 
same.  "  How  much  can  we  hold  ?  How 
can  we  obtain  the  most  pleasure  for  these 
five  senses  of  ours  before  they  wear  out  ? " 
And  the  watchword  of  their  journey  is, 
"  Let  us  eat  and  drink  and  be  merry,  for 
we  do  not  expect  to  die  to-morrow." 

There  is  the  way  of  avarice.  Those 
who  follow  it  make  haste  to  be  rich. 
The  almighty  dollar  rolls  before  them 
along  the  road,  and  they  chase  it.  Some 
of  them  plod  patiently  along  the  high- 
way of  toil.  Others  are  always  leaping 
fences  and  trying  to  find  short  cuts  to 
wealth.  But  they  are  alike  in  this :  what- 
ever they  do  by  way  of  avocation,  the 


12  THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY 

real  vocation  of  their  life  is  to  make 
money.  If  they  fail,  they  are  hard  and 
bitter;  if  they  succeed,  they  are  hard 
and  proud.  But  they  all  bow  down  to 
the  golden  calf,  and  their  motto  is,  "  Lay 
up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth." 
There  is  the  way  of  social  ambition. 
Those  who  walk  in  it  have  their  eyes 
fixed  on  various  prizes,  such  as  titles  of 
honour,  public  office,  large  acquaintance 
with  prosperous  people,  the  reputation  of 
leading  the  fashion.  But  the  real  satis- 
faction that  they  get  out  of  it  all  is 
simply  the  feeling  of  notoriety,  the  sense 
of  belonging  to  a  circle  to  which  ordinary 
people  are  not  admitted  and  to  whose 
doings  the  world,  just  for  this  reason, 
pays  envious  attention.  This  way  is  less 
like  a  road  than  like  a  ladder.  Most  of 
the  people  who  are  on  it  are  "climbers." 


THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY  1 3 

There  are  other  ways,  less  clearly 
marked,  more  difficult  to  trace,  —  the 
way  of  moral  indifference,  the  way  of 
intellectual  pride,  the  way  of  hypocrisy, 
the  way  of  indecision.  This  last  is  not 
a  single  road ;  it  is  a  net-work  of  sheep- 
tracks,  crossing  and  recrossing  the  great 
highways,  leading  in  every  direction,  and 
ending  nowhere.  The  men  who  wander 
in  these  aimless  paths  go  up  and  down 
through  the  world,  changing  their  pur- 
poses, following  one  another  blindly,  for- 
ever travelling  but  never  arriving  at  the 
goal  of  their  journey. 

Through  all  this  tangle  there  runs 
another  way, — the  path  of  faith  and 
duty.  Those  who  walk  in  it  believe  that 
life  has  a  meaning,  the  fulfilment  of  God's 
will,  and  a  goal,  the  attainment  of  per- 
fect harmony  with  Him.  They  try  to 


14  THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY 

make  the  best  of  themselves  in  soul  and 
body  by  training  and  discipline.  They 
endeavour  to  put  their  talents  to  the 
noblest  use  in  the  service  of  their  fellow- 
men,  and  to  unfold  their  faculties  to  the 
highest  joy  and  power  in  the  life  of  the 
Spirit.  They  seek  an  education  to  fit 
them  for  work,  and  they  do  their  work 
well  because  it  is  a  part  of  their  educa- 
tion. They  respect  their  consciences, 
and  cherish  their  ideals.  They  put  forth 
an  honest  effort  to  be  good  and  to  do 
good  and  to  make  the  world  better. 
They  often  stumble.  They  sometimes  fall. 
But,  take  their  life  from  end  to  end,  it 
is  a  faithful  attempt  to  walk  in  "the 
way  of  righteousness,  which  is  the  way 
of  peace." 

Such  are  some  of  the  ways  that  lead 
through  the  world.     And  they  are  all 


THE   GOOD    OLD   WAY  1$ 

open  to  us.  We  can  travel  by  the  road 
that  pleases  us.  Heredity  gives  us  our 
outfit.  Environment  supplies  our  com- 
pany. But  when  we  come  to  the  cross- 
roads, the  question  is,  "  Boy,  which  way 
will  you  ride  ?  " 

Deliberation  is  necessary,  unless  we 
wish  to  play  a  fool's  part.  No  amount 
of  energy  will  take  the  place  of  thought. 
A  strenuous  life,  with  its  eyes  shut,  is 
a  kind  of  wild  insanity.  A  drifting  life, 
with  its  eyes  open,  is  a  kind  of  mild 
idiocy. 

The  real  question  is,  "  How  will  you 
live?  After  what  rule  and  pattern? 
Along  what  way  ?  Toward  what  end  ? " 

Will  you  let  chance  answer  that  ques- 
tion for  you  ?  Will  you  let  yourself  be 
led  blindfold  by  the  first  guide  that  offers, 
or  run  stupidly  after  the  crowd  without 


1 6  THE   GOOD    OLD   WAY 

asking  whither  they  are  going?  You 
would  not  act  so  in  regard  to  the  short- 
est earthly  journey.  You  would  not 
rush  into  the  railway  station  and  jump 
aboard  of  the  first  train  you  saw,  without 
looking  at  the  signboards.  Surely  if 
there  is  anything  in  regard  to  which  we 
need  to  exercise  deliberation,  it  is  the 
choice  of  the  way  that  we  are  to  take 
through  the  world.  You  have  thought 
a  good  deal  about  what  business,  what 
profession,  you  are  to  follow.  Think 
more  deeply,  I  beg  you,  about  how  you 
are  to  follow  it  and  what  you  are  to 
follow  it  for.  Stand  in  the  ways,  and 
see. 

II.  Second,  I  earnestly  advise  you  to 
ask  for  the  old  paths,  where  is  the  good 
way. 

I  do  not  regard  this  as  a  mere  counsel 


THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY  I/ 

of  conservatism,  an  unqualified  commen- 
dation of  antiquity.  True,  it  implies 
that  the  good  way  will  not  be  a  new  dis- 
covery, a  track  that  you  and  I  strike 
out  for  ourselves.  Among  the  paths  of 
conduct,  that  which  is  entirely  original 
is  likely  to  be  false,  and  that  which  is 
true  is  likely  to  have  some  footprints  on 
it.  When  a  man  comes  to  us  with  a 
scheme  of  life  which  he  has  made  all  by 
himself,  we  may  safely  say  to  him,  as 
the  old  composer  said  to  the  young 
musician  who  brought  him  a  symphony 
of  the  future,  "  It  is  both  new  and  beauti- 
ful ;  but  that  which  is  new  is  not  beauti- 
ful, and  that  which  is  beautiful  is  not 
new." 

But  this  is  by  no  means  the  same  as 
saying  that  everything  ancient  is  there- 
fore beautiful  and  true,  or  that  all  the 


1 8  THE    GOOD   OLD   WAY 

old  ways  are  good.  The  very  point  of 
the  text  is  that  we  must  discriminate 
among  antiquities, — a  thing  as  necessary 
in  old  chairs  and  old  books  as  in  old  ways. 

Evil  is  almost,  if  not  quite,  as  ancient 
as  good.  Folly  and  wisdom,  among 
men  at  least,  are  twins,  and  we  cannot 
distinguish  between  them  by  the  gray 
hairs.  Adam's  way  was  old  enough; 
and  so  was  the  way  of  Cain,  and  of 
Noah's  vile  son,  and  of  Lot's  lewd 
daughters,  and  of  Balaam,  and  of  Jeze- 
bel, and  of  Manasseh.  Judas  Iscariot 
was  as  old  as  St.  John.  Ananias  and 
Sapphira  were  of  the  same  age  with  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul. 

What  we  are  to  ask  for  is  not  simply 
the  old  way,  but  that  one  among  the  old 
ways  which  has  been  tested  and  tried 
and  proved  to  be  the  good  way.  The 


THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY  1 9 

Spirit  of  Wisdom  tells  us  that  we  are  not 
to  work  this  way  out  by  logarithms,  or 
evolve  it  from  our  own  inner  conscious- 
ness, but  to  learn  what  it  is  by  looking  at 
the  lives  of  other  men  and  marking  the 
lessons  which  they  teach  us.  Experience 
has  been  compared  to  the  stern-light  of 
a  ship  which  shines  only  on  the  road 
that  has  been  traversed.  But  the  stern- 
light  of  a  ship  that  sails  before  you  is  a 
head-light  to  you. 

You  do  not  need  to  try  everything  for 
yourself  in  order  to  understand  what  it 
means.  The  writer  of  Ecclesiastes  tells 
us  that  he  gave  his  heart  to  know  mad- 
ness and  folly ;  and  that  it  was  all  vanity 
and  vexation  of  spirit.  It  will  be  a  wise 
economy  for  us  to  accept  his  lesson  with- 
out paying  his  tuition-fee  over  again. 

It  is  perfectly  safe  for  a  man  to  take 


2O  THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY 

it  as  a  fact  that  fire  burns,  without  put- 
ting h'is  hand  into  the  flame.  He  does 
not  need  to  try  perilous  experiments 
with  his  own  soul  in  order  to  make  sure 
that  lust  defiles,  that  avarice  hardens, 
that  frivolity  empties,  that  selfishness 
cankers  the  heart.  He  may  understand 
the  end  of  the  way  of  sensuality  by 
looking  at  any  old  pleasure-seeker, 

"  Gray,  and  gap-toothed,  and  lean  as  death," 

mumbling  the  dainties  that  he  can  no 
longer  en  joy,  and  glowering  with  bleared 
eyes  at  the  indulgences  which  now  mock 
him  even  while  they  tempt  him.  The 
goal  of  the  path  of  covetousness  may  be 
discerned  in  the  face  of  any  old  money- 
worshipper  ;  keeping  guard  over  his  piles 
of  wealth,  like  a  surly  watch-dog ;  or,  if 
perchance  he  has  failed,  haunting  the 


THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY  21 

places  where  fortune  has  deceived  him, 
like  an  unquiet  ghost. 

Inquire  and  learn;  consider  and  dis- 
cern. There  need  be  no  doubt  about 
the  direction  of  life's  various  ways. 

Which  are  the  nations  that  have  been 
most  peaceful  and  noble  and  truly  pros- 
perous ?  Those  that  have  followed  pride 
and  luxury  and  idolatry  ?  Or  those  that 
have  cherished  sobriety  and  justice,  and 
acknowledged  the  Divine  law  of  right- 
eousness ? 

Which  are  the  families  that  have  been 
most  serene  and  pure  and  truly  fortunate  ? 
Those  in  which  there  has  been  no  dis- 
cipline, no  restraint,  no  common  faith,  no 
mutual  love  ?  Or  those  in  which  sincere 
religion  has  swayed  life  to  its  stern  and 
gracious  laws,  those  in  which  parents 
and  children  have  walked  together  to  the 


22  THE   GOOD    OLD   WAY 

House  of  God,  and  knelt  together  at 
His  altar,  and  rejoiced  together  in  His 
service  ? 

I  tell  you,  my  brother-men,  it  has  be- 
come too  much  the  fashion  in  these  latter 
days  to  sneer  and  jeer  at  the  old-fash- 
ioned ways  of  the  old-fashioned  Ameri- 
can household.  Something  too  much  of 
iron  there  may  have  been  in  the  Puritan's 
temper ;  something  too  little  of  sunlight 
may  have  come  in  through  the  narrow 
windows  of  his  house.  But  that  house 
had  foundations,  and  the  virile  virtues 
lived  in  it.  There  were  plenty  of  red 
corpuscles  in  his  blood,  and  his  heart 
beat  in  time  with  the  eternal  laws  of 
right,  even  though  its  pulsations  some- 
times seemed  a  little  slow  and  heavy. 
It  would  be  well  for  us  if  we  could  get 
back  into  the  old  way,  which  proved  itself 


THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY  23 

to  be  the  good  way,  and  maintain,  as  our 
fathers  did,  the  sanctity  of  the  family, 
the  sacredness  of  the  marriage-vow,  the 
solemnity  of  the  mutual  duties  binding 
parents  and  children  together.  From 
the  households  that  followed  this  way 
have  come  men  that  could  rule  them- 
selves as  well  as  their  fellows,  women 
that  could  be  trusted  as  well  as  loved. 
Read  the  history  of  such  families,  and 
you  will  understand  the  truth  of  the 
poet's  words  :  — 

"  Self-reverence,  self-knowledge,  self-con- 
trol,— 

These  three  alone  lead  life  to  sovereign 
power." 

Look  around  you  in  the  world  and  see 
what  way  it  is  that  has  brought  your 
fellow-men  to  peace  and  quietness  of 


24  THE   GOOD    OLD    WAY 

heart,  to  security  and  honour  of  life. 
Is  it  the  way  of  unbridled  self-indulgence, 
of  unscrupulous  greed,  of  aimless  indo- 
lence ?  Or  is  it  the  way  of  self-denial, 
of  cheerful  industry,  of  fair  dealing,  of 
faithful  service  ?  If  true  honour  lies  in 
the  respect  and  grateful  love  of  one's 
fellow-men,  if  true  success  lies  in  a 
contented  heart  and  a  peaceful  con- 
science, then  the  men  who  have  reached 
the  highest  goal  of  life  are  those  who 
have  followed  most  closely  the  way  to 
which  Jesus  Christ  points  us  and  in 
which  He  goes  before  us. 

III.  Walk  therein  and  ye  shall  find 
rest  for  your  souls.  Right  action  brings 
rest. 

Rest !  Rest !  How  that  word  rings 
like  a  sweet  bell  through  the  turmoil 
of  our  age.  We  are  rushing  to  and  fro, 


THE    GOOD   OLD    WAY  25 

destroying  rest  in  our  search  for  it.  We 
drive  our  automobiles  from  one  place 
to  another,  at  furious  speed,  not  know- 
ing what  we  shall  do  when  we  get 
there.  We  make  haste  to  acquire  new 
possessions,  not  knowing  how  we  shall 
use  them  when  they  are  ours.  We  are 
in  a  fever  of  new  discoveries  and  theo- 
ries, not  knowing  how  to  apply  them 
when  they  are  made.  We  feed  our- 
selves upon  novel  speculations  until 
our  heads  swim  with  the  vertigo  of 
universal  knowledge  which  changes 
into  the  paresis  of  universal  doubt. 

But  in  the  hours  of  silence,  the  Spirit 
of  Wisdom  whispers  a  secret  to  our 
hearts.  Rest  depends  upon  conduct. 
The  restilt  of  your  life  depends  upon 
your  choosing  the  good  way  and  walk- 
ing in  it. 


26  THE   GOOD   OLD   WAY 

And  to  you  I  say,  my  brother-men, 
choose  Christ,  for  He  is  the  Way.  All 
the  strength  and  sweetness  of  the  best 
possible  human  life  are  embodied  in 
Him.  All  the  truth  that  is  needed  to 
inspire  and  guide  man  to  noble  action 
and  fine  character  is  revealed  in  Him. 
He  is  the  one  Master  altogether  worthy 
to  be  served  and  followed.  Take  His 
yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  Him,  and  ye 
shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls. 


YB  22724 


